This invention relates generally to the field of sports equipment, and more particularly to hockey clothing and protective hockey equipment.
Hockey is a sport played on ice. The game is played with a hard (usually frozen) rubber puck, and metal- or wooden-shafted sticks. Physical contact between players from opposing teams and their sticks, and even occasionally between players from the same teams, is an integral part of the game of hockey. Hockey is played not only by adults, but by many children as well, and has variations, including ringette, shinny hockey and the like. Because hockey is played on a slippery surface, and often at high speeds, it is impossible to predict during play the nature of contact that may be made between players, or between sticks and pucks, and players.
Thus, various types of protective equipment are typically worn by players. So, for example, there is a serious risk that, during play, a stick or puck will make forceful contact with the genital area of a player, causing pain and possibly injury. Thus, traditionally, male players wear genital protectors (conventionally known as xe2x80x9cjocksxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccupsxe2x80x9d) which are carried in fabric pockets attached to which are elasticized straps worn immediately against the skin, or on top of a pair of conventional underpants, for holding the cup on the player""s body.
Another risk during the rough and tumble play of hockey is that a player may be inadvertently cut by a skate. Frequently, hockey players fall to the ice after being body-checked, or otherwise losing their balance. It is in these situations when the blade of another player""s skate is most likely to cut the player who has fallen to the ice. Although, such an injury would always be serious, it is potentially life-threatening if the skate cuts the neck of a player. This is because the skate may cut through the trachea of the fallen player, or alternatively, the carotid artery or jugular vein, all of which injuries would be life-threatening.
Another area of the body that may require protection is the wrist of the player. In recent years, hockey gloves, which historically provided some wrist protection, have become shorter and lighter, to permit players better control while stick-handling. However, as a result, the wrists of players are often more exposed than previously. Furthermore, unfortunately, hockey players in the heat of competitive play often slash at other players with their sticks, particularly when trying to take the puck away from those other players. Thus, for both of these reasons, players have in recent years become more susceptible to wrist injuries, including both bone fractures and severe bruising.
Therefore, many players now wear individual wrist guards on each arm, adjacent to the top end of the hockey glove, to protect their wrists and forearms from injury.
As a result, the average hockey player will be required to transport to and from games, and put on and take off before and after games, a large number of small pieces of protective equipment, including wrist guards, a neck guard and a jock strap carrying a jock. Moreover, above and beyond the numerous small pieces of protective equipment, a player would typically have a number of small pieces of clothing to keep track of. Specifically, in addition to the large items of clothing typically worn (helmet, shirt, gloves, hockey socks for covering the player""s legs, hockey pants and skates), a player would typically need the following small items of clothing: (1) and extra undershirt to wear during the game under the shoulder pads; (2) an extra pair of underpants to wear under the jock; and (3) a garter or other support garment for holding up the hockey socks.
Three problems arise as a result of a hockey player having so many small pieces of equipment and clothing. The first is that it is easy for individual small pieces of equipment and clothing to be lost or left behind. Thus, for example, when a player is packing his hockey bag at home to go to the rink, he is unlikely to forget any major piece of equipment, such as a helmet, hockey pants or skates. However, he is more likely to accidentally leave behind a small piece of equipment or clothing, which he may not notice, or may mistakenly believe is already in his bag. To ensure that no important piece of equipment or clothing is forgotten, the player would be forced to labouriously check that every necessary piece is in the bag, and in fact, may even find it necessary to draft a checklist, and check the contents of his hockey bag against the checklist before every game to ensure that all necessary pieces of equipment are present.
Similarly, after the hockey game, a player using so many small pieces of equipment and clothing can easily lose such pieces of equipment at the rink, leaving them behind in the change room. A rink change room is a chaotic place after a hockey game. The room is often small and crowded with people. Hockey equipment is strewn about. Multiple conversations are taking place simultaneously. While it is relatively easy for a player to keep track of his large pieces of equipment and clothing, the smaller pieces are easily lost, misplaced or forgotten in the chaotic post-game change room. These small pieces may get lost in any number of ways, such as falling behind the change room benches and out of sight, or getting mixed in with another player""s equipment.
For a number of reasons, this problem is particularly severe when the hockey players are children. First, change rooms are even more chaotic after children""s hockey games than after adult hockey games. This is because, in addition to being crowded with boisterous children, the change room also contains a supervising adult helping each child get dressed. Second, children are typically less organized and more easily distracted than adults. As such, they are more likely to misplace the smaller pieces of clothing and equipment.
The second problem is that the presence of so many small pieces of equipment makes dressing for a hockey game significantly more difficult in two ways. First, it is simply difficult and time consuming to don a large number of small pieces of hockey clothing and equipment.
Second, if a particular piece of equipment, which must be put on before another piece, is forgotten, the player will have to remove other piece, put on the piece that was forgotten, and replace the other, thus significantly lengthening the process of dressing for a hockey game.
So, for example, if a hockey player mistakenly forgets to put on his jock, and then proceeds to don hockey pants, he will have to remove his hockey pants, put on the jock, and then replace the hockey pants. Similarly, if the hockey pants are donned before the sock support garter is put on, then the pants will have to be removed, the garter put on, and the pants replaced.
This second problem is also more pronounced among children, who, being less organized and more easily distracted, will be more likely to forget to put on a small piece of clothing at the appropriate time.
The third problem is that small pieces of equipment or clothing can get buried at the bottom of the player""s hockey bag, and get overlooked when the player washes his equipment. As a result, the small pieces of equipment which are typically soaked by the player""s perspiration after use, may not get washed, and may become malodorous.
Canadian Reissue Patent No. 1,290,098 (xe2x80x9cthe ""098 patentxe2x80x9d) discloses an athletic garment for use in protecting the genital area of a wearer and supporting his hockey socks. The garment includes an inner part and an outer pant. Both are supported from a waistband including a drawstring for supporting the garment. The outer pant has a pocket shaped to receive a genital protector. The inner and outer pants are sized and mutually positioned so as to ensure that the genital protector xe2x80x9cfloatsxe2x80x9d above the wearer""s genital area. Thus, reliable genital protection is provided while the wearer""s comfort is enhanced because the genital protector floats. The outer pant also has integral sock supports.
The ""098 patent is directed primarily toward providing a new, more comfortable form of genital protection, and sock supports. However, using the garment of the ""098 patent still requires a player to separately don and keep track of a number of small pieces of equipment, including a neck guard, wrist guards, and an undershirt.
Published Canadian Patent Application No. 2,034,621 (xe2x80x9cthe ""621 applicationxe2x80x9d) discloses a sports undergarment with attachable protection means. The garment includes VELCRO(trademark) patches around the shoulder area which allow either a shoulder pad assembly or neck protector to be detachably attached to the garment. The garment has an upper body portion, a pant portion and a leg portion. The garment of the ""621 application suffers from the problem that the detachable neck protector being a small piece of equipment, may be easily lost by the player. Thus, a player using the garment of the ""621 application would need to put particular effort into keeping track of the whereabouts of the neck protector.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,701 (xe2x80x9cthe ""701 patentxe2x80x9d) discloses a protective hockey undershirt with a neck surrounding band of fabric to which a neck guard can be removably or integrally mounted. The undershirt may also have a sleeve cuff assembly carrying a wrist guard on each sleeve.
However, a player wearing undershirt of the ""701 patent must still make a special effort to keep track various small pieces of equipment, such as the sock garter and elasticized jock strap, that are needed to hold up the player""s socks and provide genital protection.
Therefore, what is desired is a hockey undergarment which significantly reduces the number of small pieces of hockey clothing and equipment that need to be worn by a hockey player, while still providing the necessary protection. Preferably, the undergarment will be simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and will also be comfortable and easy to put on.
Thus, according to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an undergarment for use by a hockey player, the undergarment comprising:
a torso portion having a head opening, and arm openings;
two pant leg portions extending from the torso portion;
a neck guard assembly comprising an integral neck guard coupled to the torso portion adjacent the head opening, and a releasable attachment means coupled to the neck guard to permit the neck guard to be securely positioned on a neck of the player;
each pant leg portion carrying at least one sock support.
In another aspect of the invention, there is provided an undergarment for use by a hockey player, the undergarment comprising:
a torso portion having a head opening, arm openings, and leg openings;
a neck guard assembly comprising an integral neck guard coupled to the torso portion adjacent the head opening, and a releasable attachment means coupled to the neck guard to permit the neck guard to be securely positioned on the neck of the player;
a genital protector support, the genital protector support being attached to the torso portion and being sized, shaped and positioned to support a genital protector over a genital area of the player.
Preferably, the undergarment further comprises a pair of sleeves, each of the sleeves being attached to the torso portion at a corresponding arm opening, and a sleeve cuff assembly on each of the sleeves distal from the torso portion, each sleeve cuff assembly including a fastening means, the fastening means being sufficiently adjustable to allow a wrist guard to be selectively positioned on a wrist of the player, the sleeve cuff assembly being sized and shaped to retain the wrist guard in the sleeve cuff assembly.